


third time's the charm

by jmtgala



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Bad Matchmaking, M/M, Matchmaking, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 00:16:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10842471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmtgala/pseuds/jmtgala
Summary: child-of-wilderness on tumblr asked: really fed up Bones and entire bridge crew. Bones especially is really tired of all the pining between his two best friends and teams up with the rest of the bridge crew to set them up in """"""accidentally romantic"""""" situations until finally they just beam them down on a deserted but lovely planet and won't let them back up until they've enjoyed their date





	third time's the charm

1.

A Doctor [15:27]: Hey, you wanna go out tonight? Dinner with Spock & Sulu

jamest [15:30]: ya sure

jamest [15:30]: where @

jamest [15:31]: did spock say yes alr?

jamest [15:31]: askign 4 a friend

jamest [15:33]: that was weird wasnt it

A Doctor [15:35]: Christ, Jim.

A Doctor [15:36]: Yes, your boyfriend agreed. We’re going to that godforsaken hipster place Hikaru keeps talking about

jamest [15:37]: kk

jamest [15:43]: HES NOT MY BOYFRIEND BONES

A Doctor [15:45]: That took you five minutes to type?

 

Hikaru is standing behind Leonard, staring at his laptop. They’re in his apartment planning a date for Jim and Spock, which happens when you’re a) nosy; or b) tired of your friends dancing around each other for what seems like nine hundred years. “This is the lamest, most basic trick in the book, Len.”

“Listen, I’m willing to try anything that’ll make those two stop making me have to _look_ at their pining.” Leonard turns in his seat to look at Hikaru, his typical scowl on his face. “I can take sap or whatever the fuck, but Jim’s sad whining is torture and Spock makes that constipated-lookin’ face every time Jim flirts with someone— and God knows he only does that ‘cause he thinks he can’t get with Spock! Why can’t they just fucking—”

“ _O_ -kay, man, I get it. Let’s get us some beer and put on a vid, then we can bail on these two and have fun.”

 

jamest [18:26]: bones are u on ur way

jamest [18:29]: spock is asking where u & hiki are

 

jamest [18:30]: My Dude™

jamest [18:31]: r u with bones???

plantdadsuluh [18:36]: no… i can’t go :( sorry!!! it’s an emergency with ben

jamest [18:38]: oh my god is he ok?

plantdadsuluh [18:40]: yeah he’s fine now! but i have to take care of him just in case

plantdadsuluh [18:41]: next time man!

jamest [18:45]: it’s ok!! i understand send him my love <3

 

“Are you sure they are all right, Jim?” Spock asks. They’re sitting at a small casual dining restaurant whose theme is the early 2010’s. It’s very cozy and somewhat rustic; Jim has always had an appreciation for the classics, so this place fascinates him.

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know about Bones. He’s not replying to me.” It isn’t at all unusual for Bones to not reply, since he’s not one of those people who live on their phones. Though Jim has no idea what else Bones would even be doing in Yorktown. He probably just passed out and forgot about dinner.

“Perhaps we should call him,” Spock says, a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Jim smiles, shaking his head. He places down his phone on the table, hand still on it as he replies, “It’s fine. We’ll be all right.”

 

A Doctor [06:22]: I fell asleep, sorry

jamest [07:33]: i figured

A Doctor [07:50]: How was your date?

jamest [07:52]: oh my goD IS THAT WHY

A Doctor [07:59]: At least say thanks, Tiberius

jamest [08:01]: it was nice hes so cute nothing happened NOTHIGSN GONNA HAPPEN i hate you & thanks

 

jamest [08:05]: fucker

plantdadsuluh [08:11]: :^]

 

2.

Ever since they got back on the Enterprise for their mission, Nyota has noticed that Hikaru spends a lot of time in Leonard’s quarters. She knows that Leonard spent a lot of time with the Sulus when they were on Yorktown, but the frequency of their meetings now is odd. She sends them questioning looks sometimes, when the two are eating separately from the rest of the group, but they always just smile suspiciously and get back to whispering among each other. She decides to corner them one day.

Their shifts have just ended and Hikaru is the first one to leave the bridge. He heads straight to the medbay and Nyota follows him there. When she comes inside, Leonard stares at her.

“What can I do for you, Uhura?” Leonard is sitting by his desk. Hikaru turns towards Nyota.

“Spill.” She folds her arms in front of her chest. “What’s going on with you two?”

Immediately, Hikaru is affronted. “If you’re trying to _insinuate_ that I would cheat on Ben, Nyota—”

“No!” Nyota is suddenly embarrassed, wishing she’d phrased that less vaguely. “No, no, of course not, Hiki. You guys are just… are you plotting something?”

The look on Hikaru’s face turns very quickly from anger into panic. “It’s, uh… it’s nothing! We’re planning a… party. We’re not plotting! It’s not like that.” He shoots a look at Leonard. “ _Len?_ ”

Leonard’s face is as no-bullshit as ever. “We’re trying to get your ex-boyfriend and Jim together.” He stands up. Hikaru’s face is pinched and awkward. “If you wanna help, come join us. If you don’t, then don’t.”

Nyota, of course, follows. “How long have you guys been trying to do this for? Why didn’t you tell me! I’m, like, the best resource.”

“He’s your ex, Ny,” Hikaru explains.

“I’ve been trying to get him to say something to Jim since the start! It’s not like we were exclusive.” Hikaru makes a face of consideration for a moment, while Leonard isn’t fazed— she was dating Chapel then, too, after all, he definitely would have known.  “I had to stop though because he got annoyed. So what’s the plan?”

 

The plan turns out like this: they hold a formal party on the ship. No uniforms allowed; everyone’s in their own formal clothing, and surprisingly that translates to Jim in a royal blue suit that’s almost too tight on his body. Spock is in a black suit with a light lavender shirt underneath, and is nursing a drink Scotty made for him after Spock had agreed that getting “tipsy, as you call it” was favourable for the night.  Nyota actually thinks this plan, as vague as it is, might work.

“So, Spock,” Jim says by way of greeting as he takes a seat beside Spock, “you go real green when you’re drunk.”

Jim makes a contorted face as if that wasn’t what he’d meant to say, and a glint of fascination appears in Spock’s eyes. “Yes, just as humans go pink when they consume alcohol. I am not drunk yet, though.”

“Hm. S’cute. And I am, sorta.” Jim beams at him, but then he pauses, his eyes slowly squinting at Spock. “ _Yet_. You said ‘yet’.”

“I did,” Spock confirms. He knows where Jim is heading the conversation to, and is amused by it.

“So you’re tryin’ to get drunk. What’s that like? I mean you— what’re you like. When you’re drunk.”

Spock takes a sip of his drink. “I am not sure, as I have not been drunk for quite some time.”

“Damn, Spock,” is all Jim says before he puts his arm around Spock’s shoulder and orders another round for them both.

 

The night ends with them on top of each other, on the floor of the recreation room the party was held in, passed out drunk with their hands touching.

 

3.

“So the party didn’t work,” Nyota starts, standing in the middle of Leonard’s quarters with him, Hikaru and Scotty on the floor, “that doesn’t mean we have to give up!”

“I mean….” Hikaru scratches the back of his head, blinking. “We don’t have to, but we probably should. I’ll be the first one to admit I’m way too nosy for my own good, but we’ve got no business interfering with their relationship.”

“As non-existent as it may be,” Scotty adds.

Nyota agrees, of course, but… well, she was having fun and they really didn’t have anything better to do.

Leonard sighs. He stands up and rubs his face. “Let’s settle on this then: third time’s the charm. If it ain’t, then we’re quitting, and that’s that. All right?” The rest of them nod in agreement. “Okay, so here’s what we’re gonna do….”

 

“What do you _mean_ mandatory shore leave?!” Jim exclaims at Bones as he’s getting pulled out of his quarters. Bones is dragging him to the transporter room, where he sees Spock equally (but more subdued in appearance) confused as he is. “How is this not against regulations?”

Spock blinks. “Nyota has informed me that they have followed protocol and filed the proper documents necessary for our leave.”

Jim groans, flailing to get away from Bones’ grasp. “Fine, you monsters!” He steps onto the transporter pad with determination and glares at Bones. “Spock, we’re gonna enjoy this shore leave, and then we’re going to kill the people involved in this coup. Understood?”

Spock tilts his head. “I will not be involved in anything against regulations, but if you wish for my support as you do so, I will give it.”

Jim grins, and then they’re beamed down.

 

The place they go down to is a beach. It’s a little warm with their uniform, so Jim takes his shirt off, leaving his undershirt on. Spock is staring off into the ocean, a warmth in his expression that makes Jim smile.

“Hey,” Jim greets him, bumping his shoulder into Spock’s. Spock regards him for a moment, but looks back at the scenery before them. “You’re not… stupid,” Jim continues. He looks down at his feet and clenches and unclenches his hand at his side. “I mean, you obviously know.”

Spock nods. “I do.” Spock faces Jim, then. “Would you rather that I didn’t?”

Still looking down at the sand and fiddling with his hand, Jim replies, “No. I’ve been… wishing that you’d just find out without me having to tell you.”

“That is illogical—” Jim laughs, bitter, “—but understandable.” Jim looks up, but still not directly at Spock’s eyes. Spock wraps his hand around Jim’s wrist, extending his fingers down to stop Jim from fidgeting. “I have… longed for you, for a while. I could not find it in me to tell you. I, too, wished that you simply just knew.”

Jim is too flustered to smile properly without hiding his face, and he still can’t look right at Spock, but he intertwines his fingers with Spock’s. “I know Vulcans have a whole thing with hands that no-one understands, but this is okay, right?”

“Yes.” Spock rubs his fingers on the back of Jim’s hand. “This is… it is not quite a kiss as humans define it, but it is close.”

Jim makes an embarrassed noise at the back of his throat, burying his face in Spock’s chest. They remain that way for a while before Jim clutches Spock by the cloth at his waist with his other hand. He lifts his head and looks at Spock, blue eyes tender in their gaze. _I have longed for you_ , Spock had told him.

Spock continues to brush the pads of his fingers on Jim’s hand, soft and gentle and slow. He looks at Jim with a smile on his face.

“I have longed for you,” Jim repeats out loud. “God, Spock, that’s so sappy.” Jim grins, his hand at Spock’s side grasping harder at the cloth there, almost pulling Spock closer.

Spock huffs a breath of amusement and leans into Jim, first brushing their noses together, and then tilting his head to press his lips onto Jim’s. Jim lets go of their hands to wrap both his arms around Spock’s waist, opening his mouth to deepen their kiss.

When their lips part, Jim remains holding Spock in his arms, resting his head once more on Spock’s chest. Spock hugs him back, one hand on Jim’s head and the other on his back. _I have longed for you_ , he thinks again, _I will long for you, still, for quite a while._

 

Group: Traitors

jamest [14:03]: planned murder aborted physically but y’all have to listen to me talk about spock all the time now


End file.
